As we inch closer to spring, we are reminded that it is still only February. Punxsutawney Phil did his thing, the Daytona 500 is this Sunday and last Sunday was the Super Bowl. 

It was one of the most entertaining games in recent memory, but let’s face it, most people watch for the commercials. The commercials were somewhat of a let down this year, but one commercial did catch my eye. It was a commercial for Poppi Soda, which I had never heard of before. I was interested because they said Poppi was sweetened with natural sugar. 

For years I have been warning people about the dangers of corn syrup in their diet as corn syrup contains Roundup herbicide in it. The FDA says that the levels of Roundup found in corn syrup are at low enough not to cause harm in humans. 

Sorry but I don’t trust the FDA. I don’t think any Roundup herbicide should be in our food. Remember back in the 1960’s a little insectide called DDT. 

Once again it was deemed safe by the government until scientists found that small seemingly insignificant amounts of the insecticide was building up in large birds of prey like our national symbol, the Bald Eagle. 

Ultimately it was removed from the market and Bald Eagle populations were once again restored. But in the case of Roundup and corn syrup the problem is a little different. The cause and effect is not a straight line as Roundup herbicide has been on the market for over fifty years. 

Back in the day when Roundup was first introduced to the market it was only designed to be used before any crops were planted so that it never came in contact with the crops. 

Now thanks to GMO crops, Roundup can be sprayed directly onto the growing crops and thereby trace amounts of Roundup can be found in every ear of GMO corn. When all those ears of corn get turned into corn syrup, all that Roundup gets condensed even further and put into almost everything we eat and the government says it is safe. 

The two companies that use the most corn syrup in their products in the United States are Coca-Cola and Pepsi. For an added profit of less than two cents a can, Coke and Pepsi, changed years ago from sugar to high fructose corn syrup as their sweetener. 

Studies in the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that the consumption of corn syrup has been one of the leading sources of obesity in this country and yet the FDA does nothing about this. Did you know that the U.S. and Canada are the only places on earth where Coke and Pepsi are sweetened with corn syrup? 

Everywhere else in the world these products are still sweetened with sugar. If you get the chance to visit an ethnic grocery store you can see this for yourself. 

Look for Coke or Pepsi products in the glass bottle and check to see if it says made in Mexico. The products made in Mexico are all sweetened with sugar and only come in glass bottles so that micro plastics don’t leach into the soda. 

I knew that Mexican Coke and Pepsi had sugar in it, what I didn’t know is that north America is the only place they use corn syrup in soda. In fact, most foreign countries will not even import our corn as they know it is unsafe. 

Let’s face it, Roundup should be kept in the garage with all the gardening supplies, not in the spice cabinet in the kitchen. Poppi soda might be a first good step to getting back to natural sugars in drinks that do not contain Roundup herbicide.